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Lot Essay
In Lachaise’s drawings of a standing male nude made on each side of the present sheet, the man’s upraised arms signify his elevated aspirations. For the drawing on the verso, Lachaise sketched the man in pencil, then strengthened the lines with pen and ink, stressing some of the figure’s comparatively horizontal shapes. On the recto, he drew the same image in reverse in pencil, and afterward, while reinforcing it in pen and ink, he repositioned the man’s proper left foot to accentuate the body’s upward movement, and thus highlight the man’s eloquent gestures.
Gaston Lachaise’s drawing of an Adonis-like nude displaying himself for our appreciation very closely compares in terms of both imagery and style with Lachaise’s drawing of a seated male nude owned by the Princeton University Art Museum (accession no. x1984-110; https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/15275).These confidently executed drawings were probably made at about the same time, and in both, the broad-chested, slender-hipped man—who is seated on a bed or chaise longue with one leg tucked beneath himself while he holds a swag of drapery--represents a befitting counterpart of the self-assured, seductive Woman often seen in Lachaise’s art.
We are grateful to Virginia Budny, author of the forthcoming catalogue raisonné sponsored by the Lachaise Foundation, for her assistance in preparing the catalogue entry for this work.
Gaston Lachaise’s drawing of an Adonis-like nude displaying himself for our appreciation very closely compares in terms of both imagery and style with Lachaise’s drawing of a seated male nude owned by the Princeton University Art Museum (accession no. x1984-110; https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/15275).These confidently executed drawings were probably made at about the same time, and in both, the broad-chested, slender-hipped man—who is seated on a bed or chaise longue with one leg tucked beneath himself while he holds a swag of drapery--represents a befitting counterpart of the self-assured, seductive Woman often seen in Lachaise’s art.
We are grateful to Virginia Budny, author of the forthcoming catalogue raisonné sponsored by the Lachaise Foundation, for her assistance in preparing the catalogue entry for this work.